Misplaced Pages

Irataba

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 169.228.146.30 (talk) at 18:39, 15 April 2015 (→Mohave War and aftermath). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Revision as of 18:39, 15 April 2015 by 169.228.146.30 (talk) (→Mohave War and aftermath)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)

Irataba
Yara tav
Irataba, c. 1864
Mohave leader
In office
1861–c. 1866
Preceded byHomoseh quahote
Succeeded byQolho qorau
Personal details
Bornc. 1814
Arizona
DiedMay 3 or 4, 1874
Colorado River Indian Reservation, Arizona Territory, United States
Mother tongueMohave

Irataba (also known as Yara tav, Yarate:va, Irateba, Arateve all derived from the Mohave: eecheeyara tav; c. 1814 – 1874) was an important leader of the Mohave Nation, known for his role as a mediator between the Mohave and the United States. He was born near the Colorado River in present-day Arizona. Renowned for his physical size and strength and gentle demeanor, Irataba was also a great orator and one of the first Mohave to speak English, which he put to productive use in developing relations with the US.

Irataba first encountered European Americans in 1851, when he assisted Lorenzo Sitgreaves during his exploration of the Colorado. In 1854, Irataba met Amiel Whipple, who was leading an expedition that crossed the Colorado. Several Mohave assisted the group as they crossed, and Irataba agreed to escort them though the territory of the Paiute to the Old Spanish Trail, which would take them to southern California. He later helped other expeditions to pass through the territory while protecting them from hostile tribes. This earned him a reputation amongst whites living near the Colorado as the most important native leader in the region.

In 1858 against Irataba's advice, Mohave warriors attacked the first emigrant wagon train to traverse Beale's Wagon Road though Mohave country. As a result the US War Department sent a detachment under Colonel William Hoffmann to pacify the Mohave. Following a series of confrontations known a the Mohave War, Hoffman succeeded in dominating the Mohave, and demanded that they allow the passage of settlers through their territory. To ensure compliance, Fort Mohave was constructed near the site of the battle in April 1859. Hoffmann also imprisoned several Mohave leaders. Having been spokesperson for friendly relations with the Whites, Irataba became the nation's Aha macave yaltanack, an elected, as opposed to a hereditary, leader.

As a result of his many interactions with US officials and settlers, Irataba was invited to Washington, D.C., in 1864, for an official meeting with members of the US military and its government, including President Abraham Lincoln. In doing so, he became the first Native American from the Southwest to meet an American president. He received considerable attention during his tours of the US capital, and of New York City and Philadelphia, where he was given gifts, including a silver-headed cane from Lincoln. Upon his return he negotiated the creation of the Colorado River Indian Reservation which caused a split in the Mohave nation when he led several hundred of his supporters to the Colorado River Valley. The majority of the Mohaves preferred to remain in their ancestral homelands near Fort Mohave under the leadership of their hereditary leader Homoseh quahote, who was less enthusiastic of direct collaboration with Whites. As leader of the Colorado River band of Mohaves, Irataba continued to pursue peace with Whites and to serve as a mediator between the different Native peoples of the area, who were often at war. Nonetheless conflict continued to trouble the Mohave during his later years, especially with the Paiute and Chemehuevi.

His legacy amongst the Mohave is mixed; some consider him a great leader who championed peace, but others feel he should have done more to defend the Mohave way of life. The Irataba Society, a non-profit charity run by the Colorado River Indian Tribes, was established in 1970 in Parker, Arizona, where a sports venue, Irataba Hall, is also named after him. In 2002, the US Bureau of Land Management designated 32,745 acres (13,251 ha) as Ireteba Peaks Wilderness. In March 2015, Mohave Tribal Chairman Dennis Patch credited Irataba with ensuring that "the Mohaves stayed on land they had lived on since time immemorial."

Background

A pencil drawing of a man wearing a loincloth and holding a bow in one hand and an arrow in the other
Irataba in 1857

Irataba's name, also rendered as Yara tav, Irateba, Arateve, and Yiratewa, derives from the Mojave language phrase eecheeyara tav, which means "beautiful bird". He was born into the Neolge, or Sun Fire clan of the Mohave Nation of Native Americans c. 1814. He lived near a rock formation that gave its name to present-day Needles, south of where the Grand Canyon empties into the Mohave Canyon in present-day Arizona, near the Nevada and California border. The Mohave lived in houses along the riverbank in the Mohave Valley, during winter in half-buried dwelling built with cottonwood logs and arrowweed covered in earth, and in an open-air flat-roofed house known as a ramadas during the summer.

In the mid-19th century, the Mohave were composed of three regional groups; Irataba was a hereditary leader of the Huttoh Pah group, who lived near the east bank of the Colorado River and occupied the central portion of the Mohave Valley. Mohave government consisted of a loose system of hereditary clan leaders with a head of the entire Nation. Irataba was born to an influential family, and his father was either an important leader or was closely related to one. Unlike Europeans of royal descent, Mohave did not inherit leadership positions without first establishing their worthiness, and the aspiration to leadership would first be revealed to them in a dream. They were often involved in conflicts with the Chemehuevi, Paiute, and Maricopa peoples. Irataba was a one of the Mohave warriors called kwanami (Mohave for brave or fearless), they led groups of warriors in battle and were dedicated to defending the tribe.

Linguist Leanne Hinton described Irataba as "an unusually eloquent and persuasive speaker" and "probably the first Mojave to learn English", which he learned through his many interaction with Anglo-Americans. Like many Mohave men, Irataba was very tall, particularly by 19th-century standards; the United States Army estimated his height at approximately 6 feet 4 inches (193 cm) in 1861. American author Albert S. Evans, writing in The Overland Monthly, referred to him as "the old desert giant". Edward Carlson, a soldier based at Fort Mohave who knew Irataba well in the 1860s, described him as having a powerful frame, but also a "very gentle" and "kind ...demeanor".

Irataba lived through a tumultuous period of Mohave history where the people went from being a politically independent nation to coming under the political control of the US, and the events surrounding his role in these encounters are well documented. Most historical sources to the life of Irataba come from descriptions by White explorers or government agents with whom he interacted, or from reports in contemporary newspapers that reported on his visits to the East coast and California, and on the conflicts in Arizona territory. In addition a number of Mohave versions of the events exist: In the early 20th century anthropologist A. L. Kroeber interviewed Mohave warrior Chooksa homar (Jo Nelson) who participated in many of the events and knew Irataba personally; another version was told to ethnographer George Devereux by Irataba's granddaughter Tcatc, and versions recounted by members of the Fort Mohave band of Mohave, the descendants of Irataba's rival Homoseh quahote, were recorded by ethnographer Lorraine Sherer in the 1950s and 1960s .

Contact with emigrants and explorers

A black and white picture of a man with a moustacheAmiel Weeks WhippleA drawing of some people trading goods near a riverA drawing from the Whipple Expedition (1856) by Balduin Möllhausen

Irataba assisted Captain Lorenzo Sitgreaves during his 1851 exploration of the Colorado. On March 19, 1851, most of the Oatman family, traveling by wagon train in what is now Arizona, were killed by what are believed to have been members of the Tolkepaya band of Western Yavapai. The Yavapai killed seven members of the family, but spared the lives of 14-year-old Olive Oatman and her 7-year-old sister, Mary Ann. After a year with the Yavapai, the girls were sold to the Mohave, and adopted into the Oach clan where she lived with a Mohave warrior called Tokwatha (Musk Melon). Mary Ann died two years later, and Olive remained with the Mohave until February 22, 1856, when Tokwatha brought her to Fort Yuma carpenter Henry Grinnell, releasing her in return for two horses and some blankets and beads.

Whipple Expedition

On February 23, 1854, Irataba, Cairook, and other Mohave people encountered an expedition led by military officers Amiel Whipple and J.C. Ives, as the group approached the Colorado en route to California. Whipple and his men counted six hundred Mohave gathered near their camp, trading corn, beans, squash, and wheat for beads and calico. By the end of their commerce, the party had purchased six bushels of corn and two hundred pounds of flour. The Mohave played a traditional game played with a hoop and pole, and the two groups entertained themselves with target practice, the Mohave using bows and arrows and the whites firing pistols and rifles. When the expedition had difficulty crossing the Colorado on February 27, several Mohave jumped into the water and helped salvage the supplies.

Irataba and Cairook agreed to escort the group across the territory of the Paiute to the Old Spanish Trail that would take them to southern California. German artist Balduin Möllhausen accompanied the Whipple expedition, and made drawings of several Mohave, including Irataba. Möllhausen's drawings were featured in Ives' 1861 congressional report, making Irataba "among the first named likenesses of California Indians ever published".

Ives Expedition

In February 1858, Ives returned to the area in a paddle steamer named Explorer. He was leading an expedition up the Colorado from the south, and he wanted Irataba to guide them, but was unable to find him at first. The Mohave gave permission to navigate the river, and Cairook and a 16-year-old Mohave boy named Nahvahroopa joined the expedition. Möllhausen again accompanied the expedition, and was impressed with the Mohave guides, later noting Irataba's enthusiastic handshake and lamenting that their only form of communication was sign language. He also noted that Irataba and the Mohave readily began wearing European style clothes given to them by members of the expedition, and showed great interest in smoking tobacco. Aside from the friendship shown to him by Irataba and Cairook, Ives noted that the Mohave appeared less friendly than on earlier occasions, a change that he attributed to their contact with Mormons, who were in conflict with the US and had succeeded in converting some Mohave.

Irataba guided the party into the Mohave Canyon, indicating the location rapids and advising the Explorer's pilot regarding convenient places to anchor while camping for the night. When they reached the entrance to the Black Canyon of the Colorado, the ship crashed against a submerged rock, throwing several men overboard, dislodging the boiler, and damaging the wheelhouse. Using their skiff, the crew towed the Explorer to the shore, where they camped for three days while making repairs to the vessel. The expedition had relied on beans and corn provided by the Mohave during the previous weeks; as their supplies dwindled they grew increasingly anxious about the arrival of a resupply pack train en route from Fort Yuma. Irataba volunteered to hike towards the Mohave Valley to try to locate the supplies that had been requested several days earlier. He also warned that the expedition was being watched by Paiutes.

When Irataba returned he informed Ives that he would not venture any deeper into the territory of the Hualapais, but agreed to help them locate friendly guides in the region before parting company. Irataba was reluctant to venture into the canyon because he feared the party would be ambushed by Paiutes aligned with Mormons. After enlisting three Hualapai guides, Irataba prepared to take his leave from the expedition and return to the Mohave community. On April 4, the Mohave received payment for their services, Möllhausen described the exchange: "Lieutenant Ives informed Irataba that he had been authorized by the 'Great Grandfather in Washington' to give him two mules ... for his loyalty and his trustworthiness so that he could take his possessions and those of his companions more conveniently to his home valley." The next morning, as they were preparing to leave: "Irataba was visibly moved ... and in his sincere eyes expressed so much honesty and loyalty as can only be found in an unspoiled nature ... I maintain that there was not one in our expedition who did not feel a certain sadness to see this huge man with ... a harmless soul leave."

Mohave War and aftermath

Main article: Mohave War

Following their experiences with the Sitgreaves and Whipple expeditions, as well as encounters with Mormons and the soldiers at the garrison of Fort Yuma, the Mohave were well aware that whites were coming in increasing numbers. But it was difficult for the Mohave to predict the behavior of the arriving whites, some of whom like Whipple were amiably disposed towards them, whereas others such as the Mormons tended to be hostile. The kwanami, a society of Mohave warriors dedicated to protecting their lands and people, were divided on how the situation should be approached. Some kwanami advocated an aggressive posture, denying whites all passage through their territory, but others, including Irataba, preferred a peaceful approach, or even an alliance with the whites, which could put the Mohave in a stronger position relative to their traditional enemies the Paiute, Chemehuevi, and Walapai.

In October 1857, an expedition led by Edward Fitzgerald Beale was tasked with establishing a trade route along the 35th parallel from Fort Smith, Arkansas, to Los Angeles, California. From Fort Smith, his journey continued through Fort Defiance, Arizona, before crossing the Colorado near Needles, California. This route became known as Beale's Wagon Road and the location where Beale crossed the river, as Beale's Crossing. Beale's journal and subsequent report to the United States Secretary of War did not mention any problems with Irataba and the Mohave, but an assistant named Humphrey Stacy recorded that the Mohave had prevented Beale from traveling downriver. Also in the fall of 1857, the Mohave along with their allies the Quechan fought and lost a major battle against the alliance of the Pima-Maricopa. This defeat put the Mohave in the defensive, wary of the possibility that whites would take this moment of weakness as an opportunity to begin settling on tribal lands.

In 1858, the Rose–Baley Party comprising at least a hundred settlers with wagons and a large herd of cattle, was the first emigrant train to venture onto Beale's Wagon Road. Upon entering Mohave territory the settlers started cutting down cottonwood trees lumber, an important resource for the Mohave. The most warlike of the kwanamis organized an attack on the party, and drove away and slaughtered many of the party's cattle. On August 30, three hundred Mohave warriors attacked the emigrants but were repelled, with only 1 member of the party killed in battle, and 11 wounded. Another family group who were not with the main party during the attack were killed, in an event that has often been blamed on the Mohave but which was more likely carried out by a band of Walapai, along with seven renegade Mohaves. The emigrants killed seventeen Mohave warriors. The incident was publicized widely in the media and labeled "a massacre", scaring many white Californians who feared being cut off from the eastern US by hostile natives, and it motivated the War Department to quickly subjugate the tribe.

Irataba was away at Fort Yuma during the attack on the settlers, and when he heard of it, he scolded the other Mohave. Jo Nelson (Mohave: Chooksa homar), a Mohave warrior who participated in the events reported that he told the warriors, "I hear you fought, though I told you not to. And you will have war again: I know it. You used to fight the Maricopa. I want to go to see the Maricopa and tell them: 'The Mohave will not come any more to attack you'." Irataba, weary of the constant conflicts, subsequently organized a peace expedition to the Maricopa, settling the ancient disputes between the two peoples.

A black and white sketch of Fort Mohave in the late 19th century
A sketch of Fort Mohave in the late 19th century

When news of the attack reached California, the US War Department decided to establish a military fort at Beale's Crossing to keep the Mohave under control and secure white travelers safe passage through Mohave lands. On December 26, 1858, Colonel William Hoffman and fifty dragoons from Fort Tejon were dispatched to cross the desert and confront the Mohave. Irataba attempted to arrange a peaceful meeting, but Hoffman ordered his troops to fire on the warriors, who counterattacked and repelled the force. Hoffman returned in April 1859, by way of Fort Yuma, with four companies of the 6th Infantry Regiment. When they arrived at Beale's Crossing, the Mohave decided against attacking the army of five hundred soldiers. On April 23, Hoffman called a meeting between him and his officers and 250 Mohave warriors including several Mohave leaders, including Cairook, Irataba, Homoseh quahote (Seck-a-hoot) and Pascual, leader of the Quechan. During the meeting the Mohave were surrounded by armed soldiers who prevented them from leaving before the meeting concluded.

Hoffman gave the Mohave a choice between war and peace. He demanded that the Mohave agree never again to harm white settlers along the wagon trail. Hoffman declared that, as punishment, the Mohave were required to surrender as hostages a member of each clan and three warriors who had taken part in the massacre. Cairook offered himself as a hostage, as did 8 other Mohave including Tokwatha, Irataba's son Tekse thume, and his nephew Qolho qorau. They and the others were transported in the river steamer, General Jessup, to Fort Yuma. Many soldiers remained to begin construction on the Beale's Crossing fort, which was named Fort Mohave. The hostages were kept for over a year, in spite of Irataba visiting the garrison several times arguing for their release. On June 21, 1859, Cairook and one other captive were killed by soldiers while attempting to escape their incarceration at Fort Yuma, most of the other Mohave captives successfully escaped.

In July 1861, Major Lewis Armistead commander of Fort Mojave ordered a group of soldiers to fire into a group of Mohave who he suspected of having attacked a mail carrier and slaughtered his mule. The Mohave did not respond violently to the attack, but Armistead decided to punish the Mohave for harassing the mail party. He arrived at Irataba's ranch where a group of Mohave boys were planting beans, and from a hidden position he shot one of the planters killing him. This attack prompted an all-out assault by the Mohave on Armistead's detachment, who from an advantageous position on the high ground were able to repel the Mohave, killing many of them in a battle that lasted most of the day. Armistead's report of the assault of Irataba's ranch reported 23 dead Mohave warriors, but the Mohave themselves remember a much higher number of casualties, including women and children killed by the soldiers. Anthropologist, Lorraine Sherer speculated, that given that the 50 soldiers fired around ten shots per man, the casualty count could have been much higher than the 23 reported. The attack on Irataba's ranch is remembered by the Mohave as "the first and las battle with the Federal Troops"

As Aha macave yaltanack

A wood block depiction of a man
Artist's impression of Irataba, February 1864

After Cairook's death, Irataba was considered the main leader of the Mohave by the Whites. One of the kwanami, sources describe him as having become also Aha macave yaltanack (leader of the Mohave nation) or hochoch (leader elected by the people); yaltanack is Mohave for leader, and hochach means "head of a group". Homoseh quahote was a hereditary leader of the Malika clan ("the understanding people"), and the position of head of the Mohave was traditionally inherited only by someone from that clan. Because Irataba was Huttoh pah, in order for him to become the Mohave's leader Homoseh quahote had to first step aside, so that instead the elected leader could take his place.

Despite the accepted English translations, the words yaltanack and huchach do not mean a "ruler" or "boss". Ethnographer George Devereux describes Mohave government as "one of the least understood segments of Mohave culture", and notes that while white officials "tended to act on the assumption that Indian chiefs exercised absolute authority", as an elected leader Irataba was "primarily a servant of the tribe".

With a large contingent of Mohave warriors under his command, Irataba quickly earned a reputation as a strong leader. Settlers living near the Colorado viewed him as the most influential native in the region. On his return from his trip to Washington D.C. (described in the section below), Irataba met with the Mohave while dressed in his major general's uniform, which was covered in medals. He wore a European-style hat and carried a long Japanese sword, and he told the Mohave about all the things he had seen. He tried to convince them that peace with the United States was in their best interests, and that war against them was futile, stressing their dominant military capabilities. Nevertheless, many Mohave were skeptical of his reports, and reacted with disbelief.

By the mid 1860s a deep rift had developed between Irataba, who was proactive in cooperating with white settlers, and Homoseh quahote, who passively tolerated but did not approve of white encroachment on Mohave lands. At one time, Homoseh quahote allegedly briefly imprisoned Irataba in an effort to supplant him as principal leader. Irataba was Aha macave yaltanack of the Mohave from 1861 to 1866, but from 1867 to 1869 opinions differ, and by 1870 US government correspondence suggests that Homoseh quahote had succeeded him as leader of the Fort Mohave group.

Travels to the East coast

In 1862, Irataba acted as a guide for the Walker Party Exploration, gold prospectors led by Joseph R. Walker and including Jack Swilling, who later founded Phoenix, Arizona. Irataba brought them to a river that he called Hasyamp, later officially named the Hassayampa River, where they found plentiful gold. Arizona's first mining district was established there the following year, which led to the founding of Prescott, Arizona, soon afterward. Relations between settlers and the Mohave were positive during this period, but as emigration increased, gold seekers founded a town nearby named La Paz, stirring fear among settlers of a native uprising against further encroachment on Mohave land.

A black and white photograph of Washington, D.C., in April 1865, with the Capital building in the background
Washington, D.C., April 1865

John Moss, an experienced prospector, suggested Irataba be brought to Washington so that he could see firsthand the United States' military might. In November 1863, Irataba traveled with Moss to San Pedro, Los Angeles, where they boarded the steamship Senator, bound for San Francisco. In San Francisco, he stayed at the Occidental Hotel and created a storm as he walked down Jackson Street, dressed in clothing typical of European Americans, which Irataba soon preferred to traditional Mohave clothing. The press documented his every movement and wrote extensively about his physical size and strong features. On December 2, 1863, the Daily Evening Bulletin described Irataba as a large man, "granitic in appearance as one of the Lower Coast mountains, with ... a lower jaw massive enough to crush nuts or crush quartz."

A black and white picture of a woman with a tattoo on her chin
Olive Oatman, a former captive of the Mohave

In January 1864, on board the Orizaba they sailed for New York City, by way of the Isthmus of Panama. Upon Irataba's arrival in New York, Harper's Weekly described him as "the finest specimen of unadulterated aboriginal on this continent". Here Irataba exchanged his suit and sombrero for the uniform and regalia of a major general, including a bright yellow sash and gold badge encrusted with precious stones. From it hung a medal that bore the inscription, "Irataba, Chief of the Mohaves, Arizona Territory". In February, when The New York Times asked him to explain the nature of his visit, he replied: "to see where so many pale faces come from". In New York he met with the former Mohave captive Olive Oatman, and the two conversed in Mohave and Irataba told Oatman that her Mohave adoptive sister Topeka, to whom Oatman had grown very close still missed her and hoped she would return. Oatman herself described the meeting in positive terms:

"It was a singular coincidence, that after the lapse of 8 years the wild savage and the released captive should again meet; not among the mountain solitudes of the Pacific slope; amid the filth and degradation of an unmitigated barbarism; but in the metropolis of the highest civilization; not in the wigwam; but in the beautiful adorned reception room at the Metropolitan. We met as friends giving the left hand in friendship, which is held as a sacred pledge, among some tribes."

Irataba moved on to Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., where he earned great acclaim; government officials and military officers lavished him with gifts of medals, swords, and photographs. In Washington he met with President Abraham Lincoln, who gave him a silver-headed cane. He was the first Native American from the Southwest to meet an American president. The tour ended in April, when he and Moss sailed to California, again by way of Panama, and made their way back to Beale's Crossing from Los Angeles by wagon.

Colorado River Indian Reservation

Main article: Colorado River Indian Reservation
A color map of a section of land near California, Arizona, and Nevada
The Colorado River Indian Reservation
A black and white photograph showing a group of approximately 150 Native Americans in European clothing standing at the slope of a ditch with an arid desert landscape in the background
Group of Mohave people during a geographical survey of the Colorado River reservation in 1871

The completion of Fort Mohave began the process of military subjugation of the Mohave, and the next step was the establishment of reservations. Charles Debrille Poston, had become the first Superintendent of Indian Affairs of the Arizona Territory. In 1863 Poston called a conference between the Chemehuevi and Irataba's faction of the Mohave, in which he convinced them to form an alliance with the US against the Apache. The treaty however was never officially ratified by the US Congress. Nonetheless it formed an important step in establishing friendly relations between the Mohave and the US government following the military campaigns and the establishment of Fort Mohave.

Poston promoted the idea of establishing a reservation in the southern portion of Mohave country. Many Mohave opposed the proposed location and instead argued for a smaller parcel further north in the Mohave Valley, which had more fertile land. With Irataba and an engineer, Poston traveled down the Colorado River to survey a location. In September 1864, Poston gave the impression that Irataba was in favor of the proposed location, but in August of that year, the post commander at Fort Mohave, Captain Charles Atchisson, stated otherwise. In a letter to General Richard C. Drum, he reported that Irataba and four Mohave leaders were unhappy with how Poston was handling the situation:

Mr. Poston had marked out a reservation for the Mojave Indians in the upper part of the La Paz valley on the East side of the Colorado River ... Iratabu says this reservation is covered with sand and unfit for cultivation and the Indians are opposed to giving up their good lands in the Mojave Valley and moving to it ... Iratabu says if he can have the valley below the Fort Mojave reserved for the home of the Indians, he is willing to give up all claims to lands on other parts of the river, and bring his Indians from La Paz and other points to this valley ... I have full confidence in the friendship of Iratabu towards white men, but not in his tribe, if troubles with any other Indians should occur, while he has more influence over them than any other chief, his control over them is not complete, and they are as likely to lead him (as he is them).

Faced with Irataba's disagreement, Poston promised that the US government would assist the Mohave with installing an irrigation system at the Colorado that would make most of the reservation arable. This apparently convinced Irataba, who traveled to the Colorado River Valley with about 800 Mohave, almost a fifth of the entire Nation. General James Henry Carleton thought a reservation was unnecessary, and engineer Herman Ehrenberg disagreed with Poston's proposed location on the basis that the soil was too alkaline for farming, the need for irrigation too great, and the task of raising the river too insurmountable. Nonetheless, in 1865 Congress established the Colorado River Indian Reservation at Poston's proposed location. Ehrenberg's concerns proved valid, and neither Poston nor any subsequent US authority was willing to dedicate the considerable resources required to make the location suitable for farming. The reservation was established in 1865 by executive order of President Grant, without a treaty having been established between the Mohave and the US government.

Most of the Mohave refused to leave their ancestral homelands for life on the reservation, but Irataba's conviction that the reservation was their best option marked the beginning of a rift between his group and those who stayed behind to follow Homoseh quahote, the nation's hereditary leader. According to an eyewitness account by Jo Nelson (Mohave: Chooksa homar), Irataba explained his decision to move to the reservation:

"You get angry sometimes; I know you are brave men and think you can beat anybody. You thought you could beat the whites: you said so. I told you you could not; the whites have beaten all tribes; all are friends to them now. You did not listen to what I said when I told you that. You did what you thought, and many have got killed. If the soldiers come, you cannot resist them. You did not know that, but now you know it. The country down river from here, which we took away from another tribe , I will live there. Those of you who want to go on fighting can stay here. I do not want to and will leave you."

As the promised irrigation assistance was not immediately forthcoming, the first year at the reservation brought a drought that made it necessary for the Mohave to request food assistance. In 1867, Irataba and the Mohave began construction of an irrigation canal by their own labor, digging by hand a ditch that ran for 9 miles (14 km); it was completed a few months after Irataba's death in 1874.

A report by a US official visiting the Colorado River Indian Reservation in 1870 recorded that he was living near 800 others, and that attempts by the Mohave at agricultural cultivation on the site were restricted to an area of not more than 40 acres (16 ha). He noted that they were adept at wood cutting, and traded timber with merchants arriving in steamboats along the river.

Later years

A black and white photograph of two Native Americans
Ah-oochy Kah-ma (left) and Irataba (right)

As head of the Colorado River band of Mohave, Irataba continued to lead his people in their interactions with neighboring tribes. Irataba's main strategy was to pursue peaceful relations with the surrounding tribes, and to cooperate actively with the US authorities. Nonetheless, Irataba worked to help the Yavapai and Walapai as conflict with Paiutes and Chemehuevi broke out again. In March 1865, Irataba and the Mohave defeated the Chemehuevi after their allies, the Paiutes, killed two Mohave women. The Mohave pushed the Chemehuevi off their traditional territory and into the California desert, but they soon returned with renewed strength.

To avoid fighting a two-front war, Irataba attacked the Chemehuevi first, then turned his attention to the Paiutes, who were planning an attack on the Mohave farm and granary on the Colorado's Cottonwood Island. During a subsequent battle with the Chemehuevi in October 1865, Irataba was taken prisoner while wearing his major general's uniform. According to a contemporary news report based on second hand accounts from white travelers, the captors feared that killing him would invite repercussions from the soldiers stationed at Fort Mohave, so they instead stripped him naked and sent him home badly beaten. In the Mohave account of the events as told by Chooksa homar, Irataba surrendered in an effort to make peace with the Chemehuevi, and offered his uniform to their chief as a gesture of peace. In 1867 a treaty signed by Irataba and the Chemehuevi leader Pan Coyer, restored peaceful relations between the two nations. Though now an old man, an 1867 description indicates that Irataba's hair had remained dark, but due to an old injury, he walked with a cane.

The old man is here now with his tribe, but he looks feeble, wan, and grief stricken. Age has come to Irataba, but it has brought to him no bright and peaceful twilight. Dark and cheerless appear the skies of his declining years.

 —The Arizona Weekly Miner, February 5, 1870

Irataba also welcomed bands of Yavapai onto the reservation after they had been subject to massacres by US troops, or suffered starvation due to having been driven from their lands. The meager resources of the reservation however proved unable to sustain the additional population and eventually the Yavapai had to leave. Irataba frequently served as a mediator between Yavapai and Walapai who had become embroiled in conflicts with the US army, and participated in peace parlays. In 1871-72 general General George Crook came to the Mohave reservation looking for a group of Yavapai who had attacked a stage coach in 1871, and Irataba had no choice but to turn the war party over to the army.

The Colorado River band of Mohave never replaced Irataba; he was their leader when he died at their reservation on May 3 or 4, 1874. Irataba's cause of death is unknown, but smallpox and natural causes are both cited. The Mohave grieved deeply, Irataba's cremation and the rituals of mourning were even reported on newspapers as far away as Omaha, Nebraska. Irataba was succeeded as leader on the Colorado Reservation by his nephew, Qolho qorau of the Vemacka clan, who upheld Irataba's policies.

Legacy and influence

A color picture of some desert mountains
A photo of Ireteba Peaks Wilderness

In 1966, Sherer commented regarding Irataba's legacy amongst the Mohave: "Estimation of his position in Mojave history from the Mojave viewpoint differs. To some he is an heroic figure, to others he was a white collaborator who did not stand up for Mojave rights. From the standpoint of white men who were conquering a wilderness, he was indeed the Mojave who worked unswervingly for peace."

Irataba's influence as a leader may even have left its mark on the Mohave language. A list of Mohave words that he dictated to an anthropologist during his visit in Washington shows that he was among the first Mohave speakers to shift the sounds and (similar to sh as in "shack") to θ (th as in "thick") and , respectively. In the late 19th century all Mohave speakers had adopted this change. Linguist Leanne Hinton has suggested that this may be due in part to Irataba's influence, both because he was a prestigious leader whose ways of speaking may have been emulated by other Mohave, and also because when he led the Mohave onto the reservation, the old distinctions between dialect groups were erased through dialect leveling making new changes spread quickly through the community.

The Irataba Society, a non-profit charity run by the Colorado River Indian Tribes, was established in Parker, Arizona, in 1970. The charity holds an annual pow wow or National Indian Days celebration. Irataba Hall, a sports venue in Parker, is also named after him. In 2002, the US Bureau of Land Management designated 32,745 acres (13,251 ha) of the Eldorado Mountains, contained largely within the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, as Ireteba Peaks Wilderness.

In March 2015, the Colorado River Indian Tribes celebrated the 150th anniversary of their reservation. Tribal Chairman Dennis Patch commented: "Some people would think we're lucky, as we have this river and 220,000 acre feet of water ... But we have had great leaders, like Chief Irataba. He made sure the Mohaves stayed on land they had lived on since time immemorial." Journalist John Gutekunst spoke with former CRIT Museum Director Dr. Michael Tsosie, who "said Irataba understood the Mohave people would need to keep fighting to keep what they had."

References

Notes

  1. Both the spelling "Mohave" an "Mojave" are correct variants of the English word corresponding to the Mohave word pipa aha macave "People who live by the side of the water". According to some sources (e.g. "The Colorado River Indian Tribes (C.R.I.T.) Reservation and Extension Programs" (PDF). 2008.) the spelling "Mohave" is preferred by the Colorado River tribe of Mohave which Irataba founded, and hence this spelling is used here.
  2. Several authors, including Woodward and Ricky, state that this encounter was several years earlier in 1849, but this now appears to be a result of confusion over the date of the expedition along the Colorado River led by Whipple and Ives. Whipple himself gives the date of the encounter as February 23, 1854, and there is no question that the Whipple Expedition was in 1853 to 1854, not 1849.
  3. Tensions between Mormons and American emigrants reached their peak during 1857–58, with several hostile encounters collectively known as the Mormon War.
  4. Prior to his trip to Washington in 1863, Irataba had visited Los Angeles, first in 1860, and again in 1861.
  5. Several contemporary newspapers including The Omaha Daily Bee and The Prescott Miner claim that the Mohave were so committed to Irataba's cremation ritual that they burned their entire village, slaughtered the horses, and fasted for a prolonged period.

Citations

  1. ^ Gutekunst 2015.
  2. Digital Collections, The New York Public Library. "(still image), (1857)". The New York Public Library, Astor, Lennox, and Tilden Foundation. Retrieved March 21, 2015.
  3. Ricky 1999, p. 100: born c. 1814 to the Sun Fire clan; Sherer 1966, p. 6: origin and variations of Irataba's name.
  4. Kroeber 1925, pp. 725–727.
  5. Moratto 2014, p. 347.
  6. Sherer 1966, pp. 6, 29–30.
  7. Sherer 1966, pp. 29–30.
  8. ^ Scrivner 1970, p. 127.
  9. Stewart 1971, pp. 431–434.
  10. Johansen & Pritzker 2007, p. 1019: the kwanami were a Mohave warrior society; Sherer 1966, p. 30: Irataba was a kwanami, which means brave or fearless; Fathauer 1954: the role of kwanami in Mohave warfare.
  11. Hinton 1984, p. 281.
  12. Ives 1861, p. 69.
  13. Evans 1869, p. 143.
  14. ^ Mifflin 2009, p. 178.
  15. Kroeber & Kroeber 1973.
  16. Devereux 1951.
  17. Sherer 1966.
  18. ^ Ricky 1999, p. 100.
  19. Braatz 2003, pp. 253–254.
  20. Mifflin 2009, pp. 104–107: Olive was released to Henry Grinnell; Putzi 2004, p. 177: Olive and Mary Ann taken captive.
  21. Woodward 1953, p. 54.
  22. Conrad 1969, p. 147.
  23. Whipple & Ives 1856, pp. 112–128.
  24. Whipple & Ives 1856, p. 112.
  25. Whipple & Ives 1856, pp. 113–114.
  26. ^ Whipple & Ives 1856, p. 114.
  27. Whipple & Ives 1856, p. 116.
  28. Whipple & Ives 1856, pp. 119–128.
  29. Elsasser 1977, p. 62.
  30. Mifflin 2009, p. 174.
  31. Ives 1861, pp. 69–71, 76.
  32. Miller 1972, pp. 178–179, 182.
  33. Mifflin 2009, p. 175.
  34. ^ Stewart 1969, p. 230.
  35. Baley 2002, pp. 4, 14, 28, 131–132.
  36. Ives 1861, pp. 77, 85, 92.
  37. Ives 1861, pp. 81–84.
  38. Ives 1861, pp. 79–83.
  39. Ives 1861, pp. 94–97.
  40. Zappia 2014, pp. 121, 138.
  41. Ives 1861, pp. 94–97, 102.
  42. ^ Miller 1972, p. 188.
  43. Kroeber 1965, p. 177-78.
  44. Thrapp 1991, p. 76.
  45. ^ Hunter 1979, p. 139.
  46. Utley 1981, p. 164.
  47. Sherer 1994, p. 69.
  48. ^ Kroeber 1965, p. 175. Cite error: The named reference "FOOTNOTEKroeber1965175" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  49. Hunter 1979, p. 138.
  50. Hunter 1979 states there were 200 settlers and 400 heads of cattle, whereas Baley 2002 puts the number at over 100 settlers, and 500 heads of cattle as reported by John Udell who participated in the party.
  51. Kroeber 1965, pp. 174–75.
  52. Sherer 1994, pp. 82–85.
  53. Baley 2002, pp. 2–3, 5, 15, 24, 28–40, 61–62, 67–72: emigrant train and attack; Zappia 2014, p. 129: seventeen Mohave warriors.
  54. Sherer 1994, p. 82.
  55. Kroeber & Kroeber 1973, pp. 53–54.
  56. Kroeber & Kroeber 1973, p. 14.
  57. ^ Woodward 1953, p. 58.
  58. Kroeber & Kroeber 1973, p. 63: Irataba attempted to arrange a peaceful meeting; Woodward 1953, p. 58: the Mohave attacked and repelled the force.
  59. Sherer 1966, p. 3: Homoseh quahote attended the meeting; Woodward 1953, p. 59: Irataba and Cairook.
  60. ^ Hunter 1979, p. 150.
  61. Kroeber & Kroeber 1973, p. 25.
  62. Woodward 1953, p. 59.
  63. Kroeber & Kroeber 1973, p. 24: soldiers remained to build a fort; Sherer 1965, p. 73: the fort was initially called Fort Colorado.
  64. Mifflin 2009, p. 177.
  65. Woodward 1953, pp. 59–60.
  66. Kroeber & Kroeber 1973, p. 27.
  67. Sherer 1994, pp. 103–105.
  68. ^ Woodward 1953, p. 60.
  69. Scrivner 1970, p. 134: becoming leader; Sherer 1966, pp. 2, 5–6: attaining Aha macave yaltanack.
  70. Sherer 1966, pp. 3–4.
  71. Sherer 1966, p. 2.
  72. Devereux 1951, pp. 35–36.
  73. ^ The New York Times & February 1864.
  74. Woodward 1953, pp. 63–64.
  75. ^ Ricky 1999, p. 102.
  76. Woodward 1953, p. 66.
  77. Sherer 1966, pp. 9, 30.
  78. Sherer 1966, pp. 1–14.
  79. Hanchett 1998, p. 9.
  80. Woodward 1953, pp. 60–61.
  81. Woodward 1953, p. 63.
  82. Scrivner 1970, p. 134.
  83. ^ Woodward 1953, pp. 61–62.
  84. O'Brien 2006, p. 249.
  85. Woodward 1953, p. 53.
  86. ^ Woodward 1953, pp. 62–63.
  87. ^ Mifflin 2009, p. 180.
  88. Woodward 1953, p. 62.
  89. Ricky 1999, pp. 101–102.
  90. Carlson 1886, p. 492.
  91. Knack 2004, p. 97.
  92. Sherer 1966, pp. 6–7.
  93. Sherer 1966, pp. 7–8.
  94. ^ Caylor 2000.
  95. Griffin-Pierce 2000, p. 246: relocating to the Colorado River Valley; Caylor 2000, p. 196: a fifth of the entire Mohave Nation; Sherer 1966, pp. 6–8: 800 Mohave.
  96. Caylor 2000, p. 197: soil was too alkaline
  97. Swanton 1952, p. 357.
  98. Sherer 1966, pp. 4–5, 8–9.
  99. Kroeber & Kroeber 1973, p. 31.
  100. Andrews 1870, p. 647.
  101. Kroeber 1965, pp. 176–78.
  102. Woodward 1953, pp. 64–65.
  103. Knack 2004, pp. 97–98.
  104. ^ Daily Alta California 1865, p. 1.
  105. McNichols 1944, pp. 120–121.
  106. Kroeber & Kroeber 1973, p. 40.
  107. ^ Kroeber 1965, p. 179.
  108. Evans 1870, p. 41.
  109. ^ Woodward 1953, p. 67.
  110. ^ The Omaha Daily Bee 1874, p. 2.
  111. Arizona Weekly Miner 1874, p. 1. sfn error: no target: CITEREFArizona_Weekly_Miner1874 (help)
  112. Woodward 1953, p. 68.
  113. Sherer 1966, p. 13.
  114. Sherer 1966, pp. 30–31.
  115. Hinton 1979.
  116. Kulp 1974, p. 3.
  117. Cook 1985, p. B-2.
  118. The Yuma Daily Sun 1975, p. 3.
  119. Bureau of Land Management.

Sources

Further reading

External links

Template:Persondata

Categories: